26 July 2011
Well, it was dark, but we decided to go to Hiva Oa after all, especially as a fellow yacht "Good News" hailed us on channel 16 to offer us help in anchoring. Good news indeed. So, about an hour after sunset, we pulled into Baie Taaoa in Hiva Oa and dropped our anchor. Sweet. We feel very proud to have reached the Marquesas in 21 days, 3000 miles. Another milestone in our journey. And so to bed...... current pos: 09.48S 139.01W

We have 20 miles to go and land has been in sight for the past few hours. We still don't know if we will be able to anchor at Hiva Oa; the winds dropped right down this morning and progress was slower than the whole of the rest of our trip. But that meant that we could blitz the boat, getting it all ready for landfall. Mark has just brought in the fishing lure after 3 frigate birds were swooping down on it - now that would be bad luck on our last day so we have accepted that dinner will be some textured vegetable protein spag bol affair, rather than mahi mahi or tuna :-(
We put the engines on to help our speed a little and so I have just enjoyed a hot shower now we know we'll be filling up tomorrow - bliss - clean clothes and hair! Hiva Oa looks pretty impressive from a distance. All of a sudden, I'm very excited - we should be anchored in 3 or 4 hours time.....will update again, once we are at anchor. Curr Pos: 09.48S 138.43W

Passing comment to Whit as we changed watch at 2am; "feel free to make a fantastic meal out of the ingredients we have left in the cupboard." Bearing in mind it's day 20, I wasn't really expecting him to rise to the challenge, especially since of our fresh food, we only have onions, potatoes, apples and eggs left. But, showing his truly competitive side (and feeling the need to prove himself after losing several games of connect four in a row to both Mia and Lochy (8 and 6) he really did pull one out of the bag. A Quiche Lorraine. I was woken this morning to the smell of chorizo and pastry - delicious! That got me reaching for the Be-Ro baking book and with a whiff of nostalgia (Grandma had one of the original Be-Ro cooking books) I've spent the day making biscuits, cakes and Cornish pasties. We can spy another yacht on the horizon - our first since we left the Galapagos, but they didn't reply when we tried to hail them on the VHF. They're going faster than us, but it would have been nice to have had a chat as they flew past! I'm really enjoying this sail - I think I could go on for several days before needing to get to land, except for the water situation - don't worry, we have plenty drinking water, but washing water is another thing! But, it looks like we will be arriving around sunset tomorrow - trying to keep the speed up so it's before rather than after the sun goes down, but we shall see. And we have a good back up bay if it's dark, on another island a couple of miles away, so either way, we should be sleeping at anchor tomorrow night. Curr Pos: 09.39S 136.23W

24th July 2011
Today marks our one year anniversary of leaving Jersey and whilst we're not celebrating that (because we do love Jersey) we can celebrate the fact that it coincides with us having sailed 10,000 nautical miles. That's TEN THOUSAND miles. And that's worth celebrating!! The winds have behaved themselves and we've had 15-20 knots all day, which actually has made us realise how much we have put up with over the past three weeks with the stronger winds. It's been so lovely today, the sun has been shining, Mark has fixed the duogen again and the fishing rod so it's all systems go. I have to say, I will be very pleased to refill the water tanks with something other than Galapagos water as, even with the water filter, it has tasted disgusting the whole trip. We're actually quite low on water, so washes have been limited. What am I talking about, none of us have washed the whole trip!! Not strictly true, but I will be very pleased to have a hot shower and clean sheets when we get in. Lochy watched most of HP and the Chamber of Secrets, although most was with his fingers in his ears and eyes closed from the other side of the saloon, Mia baked cakes and I am pleased to report everyone is happy and healthy on board Pegasus of Jersey. Current position: 09.19S 134.16W.

23 July 2011
400 miles to go (not that I am counting down at all!) Our duogen tow attachment has now been fixed three times by Mark and each time he fixes a piece, another piece goes. Not happy. So we have the wind generator going again. Less mileage today, but the winds have picked up to 30 knots again now.That didn't stop me from making some rather lovely crab cakes and mashed potato for dinner. Yum. When we were in Prickly Bay, we were given a whole bunch of food by those who were leaving their boats in Grenada for the summer and returning home. Hence the tinned crab. Very nice too. Also, Steve and Gissy, I don't know who made the homemade chutney you passed on to us, but please can we have some more; we've finished the last jar and it was delicious!! Mia and I watched the second Harry Potter movie. Lochy may get to see it tomorrow if his manners improve. Our fishing lure went so deep and we were going so fast that it broke the rod by pulling it in, so fish is now officially off the menu. Hmm, what else? Ooh, yeah, tomorrow is a really big day for the Jackson Four on tour and to find out why, you'll have to tune in tomorrow. Until then........current post: 08.54S 132.02W

22 July 2011
How long do you think a can can go beyond its best before date? A month? Two? Well, Whit just pointed out that the pineapple rings I suggested he opened (yes from Jersey!) had a BBD of May 2010 and to me - and I've got a nose for things not quite right - they taste fine. Incidently I hadn't opened the pineapple rings just because I had gammoned Whit in Backgammon but it seems like a good opportunity to keep you up to date with the scores on the doors! Mark cooked some excellent shortbread and Mia, Lochy and I blitzed their 'toy shelves' in the saloon - all in 35 knots of wind. We're so used to it now that I think we'd be disappointed if our speed dropped - 167 miles today. Last night bought us a mile from a very large tanker, but thanks to our AIS, we could see it from 60 miles away and we knew at what time it would pass us and at what distance, so we didn't need to go through the 'shall we call them' scenario, though it would have been a good time to test out my French "Le homard brun est sale, mais l'epouse jaune est plus sage que l'oncle mince" google translate THAT one! Current pos'n: 08.29S 129.36W